John Wooden and the Pyramid of Success
Mr. Pomicter addressed the LE students at this week’s forum on Coach John Wooden and the principles of success he used to guide his life and career.
John Wooden was a renowned coach of UCLA men’s basketball. He helped the team win 10 NCAA Championships and earn various other awards. After winning the 1975 NCAA Championship at 64, he retired and set up youth basketball camps from the summer of 1971 through the mid-1980s.
During his career and retirement, John Wooden taught players how to succeed in basketball and life through his ‘Pyramid of Success’ and seven principles. Coach Wooden always told his players, “The closest I can come to the secret to success is this: A lot of little things done well.” This is where His “Pyramid of Success” comes into play, with each ascending layer of the pyramid dependent on the previous layer of blocks (principles). He based his view of success on seven principles, including helping others, praying for guidance and counsel, and making each day a masterpiece. Some of Coach Wooden’s concepts for success and how to achieve it agree with biblical teachings. In the book “Forgotten Teams” by Pat Williams, he is quoted on page 98 as saying, “You must have faith that all things will work out as they should as long as you do what you should. That doesn’t mean things will work out as we want them to, but if we have faith, things will turn out as they should”. God hears people’s prayers and knows their needs. A person can go to God for help succeeding at work or school, but they must also put the effort in themselves. If a person applies these principles from Coach Wooden, tremendous success should be a result.
